[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by Kromm

We also lose the perspective that non-gamers just starting to get into gaming have no idea at all what "monsters" should be.

Considering the sheer number of RPG fights involving bandits and evil wizards, this doesn't strike me as meaningful.

(As an aside, I'd welcome help for making mighty spellcasters more than new monsters, regardless of the source of the monster. Picking spell lists is a pain in GURPS or DFRPG, especially for arch-wizards or high priests.)

Originally Posted by Kromm

It would be a very bad assumption indeed to think they're familiar with real-world mythology and fantasy novels/movies, though.

I'm not making the assumption that they are familiar with real-world mythology and fantasy novels/movies. I'm making the assumption that they might be. And even for the new monsters, it helps to have a one-sentence core description or simple analogy ("Tarkus is an armadillo/tank") to which the players and the GM can easily relate.

Originally Posted by Kromm

Yes, people know what "vampires" and "zombies" are, except that they expect the former to be a pastiche of Dracula retellings and "those guys from Blade and Buffy and Underworld," and the latter to conform to Romero-style horror movies . . . and when the versions in the game aren't like that, they get bummed, so you end up apologizing.

I've never once had this issue. Most of my crowd isn't into these properties, but I don't think I've ever had an issue like this with anything in potpourri fantasy or scifi (obviously, if you play a Star Wars game, you'll get complaints when all the Stormtroopers shoot straight). Most issues in games I've played involve complex game rules; a discussion about flanking in D&D 3e once took hours.

Originally Posted by Kromm

If you're giving people monsters they haven't heard of anyway, why not give them monsters that nobody has heard of, so That Guy can't lean on player knowledge to ruin the challenge?

I find the best way to counter the player knowledge of That Guy is to not game with That Guy in the first place. Nobody could possibly That Guy-proof any gaming system, from TWERPS to F.A.T.A.L. Plus, even with player knowledge, that still doesn't win the fight, as the dice may go against you. And GMs can change spell lists, set a fight on tough terrain, give the foes a cool weapon ...

Originally Posted by Kromm

I think the best plan in a game intended to bring new people to gaming is to assume they've never looked inside a game manual to see the art or learn about the monsters. Basically, to take the stance you're introducing the reader to freaky-looking things that their alter-egos are going to fight.

I find that new players have issues with too much information at the gaming table, especially adults. (Kids are actually better able to handle the complexity; their ability to read game rules, however, is often in question. At my own gaming table, a 55-year-old man complains about having to aim, a 40-year-old man has issues understanding disadvantage limits and how they affect point levels, but my 11-year-old daughter gets points instinctively while not able to read every word in the book and has no trouble aiming her bow before shooting.) They find the sheets full of numbers to be daunting. I'm all in favor of throwing them a possible bone every so often rather than having them fight nothing but indescribable horrors.

I'm not saying "don't create original monsters"--far from it! Not only do they give variety to a game and make great bosses, they also tend to have original takes on mechanics that GMs can steal. I'm merely saying that folks do expect the classics for many reasons: they're easy to convey to others, they're handy when converting D&D adventures (though I think a system that exists only to handle old D&D adventures should just be D&D), they often have third-party artwork or miniatures that you can just show your players to symbolize the monster, there's a chance you might buy a product based on their presence (for example, I bought GURPS Adaptions since the kalidah statblock was in the preview). At the least, I'd expect more hitting up of Cardboard Heroes for monsters than just GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 3 did, as Evil Stevie already owns that artwork.